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Greenhorn
posted
I had been cooresponding with a gentleman ( Harold Hess by name) back East many years ago, I think it was just after paper was invented and before Al Gore provided the internet, anyway a long time ago. The subject of deer hunting came up and he provided me with some tips on how they did it in Mississippi. Well after the close of the season and a few gallons of "Taos Lightning" I decided to let him know how the hunt turned out. The next thing I knew he had sent my letter to a friend who was the publisher of the "Backwoodsman". The following is what appeared. I think the statue of limitations has finally run out.

I wrote a friend in all seriousness telling him a successful method of hunting deer - one stretches silk threads thru the woods and then before season opens, check for broken threads --- the injuns supposedly looked for cobwebs, thus my method was called "silk thread method".
I enclose Bob's answer,---Oh I forgot - I advised him to wear a hunk of felt in his hat soaked in essence of skunk--nuf said.
Harold

Well the "Great Deer Hunt of 1979" has come and gone. The cuts and bruises are starting to heal, and my lawyer says he can handle the law suites. I want to thank you for your advice on the "Mississippi" way of hunting deer. It made for a very exciting hunt, one that surpassed all my expectations.

Since your instructions arrived somewhat late for much preplanning, some minor modifications and adjustments had to be made. Your suggestion of putting the "Essence of Skunk" in my hat seemed to be the first big problem to solve. Not having any skunks on hand to squeeze some essence from, I was a might bewildered as to what to do. I have a Labrador Retriever that had some old essence on him, so I tried rubbing the hat all over him but the fool dog thought I was playing and almost ate my hat before I could get it back. The only thing I got on the hat was a bunch of black hairs, tooth marks, and some drool. The dry cleaners corrected most of that though. I tried driving down some of the back roads around here late one night. I figured maybe I'd come across a skunk out on a midnight stroll with a little essence to spare. By asking real polite-like, and tossing my hat out, I was sure I could get it filled up, but no luck. Did meet a Sheriff's patrolman who grew a "long-face" when I explained what I was up to in the middle of the night. The little woman wasn't very kind when I had to call her at 2:00 A.M. I needed her to explain that I hadn't escaped from the institution at Winfield. She threatened to tell them I also ran around in animal skins and hung bits and pieces on string around my neck, but for the kids sake, she didn't. Besides, it would have been a lot of trouble to bring them on visiting days. I finally had to settle on some Linberger cheese in my hat. It should have worked...my dog wouldn't even have anything to do with it.

There were some problems encountered with stringing silk threads through the woods to find where the deer were traveling. Silk worms seem to be a might scarce around these parts this time of the year, must not be the right time of the year for the migration. The few I came up with were reluctant to take on the job. I finally had to settle for some old monofiliment fishing line left over from a catfishing expedition.

Now laying on the ground under a tarp looked pretty easy and really didn't present much of a problem. I did have to change the tarp for a sleeping bag---since I had the latter and didn't have a tarp. Your suggestion of laying some carrots at my feet so the deer would come up close to eat really sounded surefire. The night before the big day I went to the grocery and picked up some nice fat, fresh carrots and put them in the frig. I got all my gear laid out and hit the sack real early. Well, 2:30 A.M. finally came and I rolled out, all excited about the hunt. Got the car all loaded and went into pick up the carrots. Surprise!! The Squaw had turned the carrots into a Jello-Carrot Salad, there was nothing to do but load up the bowl, and away I went.

Hal, you should really try stringing fishing line through the woods on a moon-less night. They tell me the poison ivy will clear up in a couple of more weeks and I got most of the chiggers under control. In the middle of all this I had a brilliant idea. I had watched an old John Wayne movie a few nights back where the Japs had the Duke pinned down. Night was closing in and the Duke had his men hang cans full of rocks on the barbed wire around their position. When a can rattled, they cut loose on it. Well, I ran across some old stag beer cans and filled them with rocks and hung them around through the trees on the fishing line. I felt assured as I settled down that no Deer was going to slip up on me.

Now here is where I let you in on the greatest discovery in deer hunting tactics to come along in the last 100 years! I call it "tight lining for deer". Well, I still had about 500 yards of line on my reel after running it around through the woods, so I pulled about 400 yards out and laid it down a deer trail. I had an old nylon stocking in my possible bag, left over from a poker game at the last rendezvous, so I filled part of it up with the carrot salad and tied it on the line for bait. You want to leave some line on your reel in case they try to run with the bait. Now all you do is sit down, reel in the slack and wait for a nibble. When the deer takes the bait, you reel in real slow until the Deer is close enough to shoot.You can use a dip net also, if you have a large one. Simple isn't it, can't figure why someone hasn't thought of it before. I may patent it.

I was ready. Into the sleeping bag, hat on, salad at my feet, rifle beside me, and finger on the reel to feel nibbles. My perimeter was set, and no Deer could sneak past. Since I had got up rather early, and after all the work of getting set up, I must have dozed off.

When I awoke that line was jerking like a fifty-pounder was on it. My hat had fallen off and rolled a few feet away, where a Big Daddy Skunk was making some romantic advances toward it. Never seen a skunk act like that before, but I don't spend much time with four-footed skunks either.(my wife made me insert the "four-footed" part..) Back to more important things. I started reeling in real slow at first, but I must have got excited, because before long that bait was sailing through the woods. I could hear a thundering sound crashing through the underbrush as the end of my line approached. To really appreciate how effective "tight-lining" is you would have had to been there.

Into my clearing came 37 Milk Cows at a dead run; 2 mad Badgers; 13 Deer, one with a 20-point rack; 1 Buffalo; 6 Wolves; 4 Elk; 1 large Bear, undetermined breed, but large and brown; a half dozen Squirrels and 2 Indians, wondering what all the ruckus was about. Now there hasn't been any wild Buffalo, Wolves, Elk, Bear or Indians in our parts for years. I think that really testified to the effectiveness of my new method.

From here-on, things got a little fast paced and confused, but I'll try and sort things out as best as I can recall them. In the melee, I tried to shoot the 20-point buck, but stepped backwards into the bowl of leftover salad and sent it sailing right between the eyes of the Buffalo when I fell. My rifle discharged, sending the ball just under the skin, across the left hindquarter of the Bear, changing said
Bear's personality from one of mild confusion, to instant rage! I think this was about the time the skunk got ticked-off at his advances being ignored by my hat, and the invasion of his privacy. He essenced down the whole group and stomped off. Mean-while, the bear was stacking Milk Cows up like cordwood, the Indians had put on war paint, and were sending arrows every whichway. The Buffalo charged me from behind, sending me straight up in the air. The Badgers were running around, trying to keep from being stomped on, and biting everything they could, The squirrels had taken to the trees which seemed like the wisest thing under the circumstances. You'll have to forgive me, but I'm not sure about the Elk, or the Wolves. I think the Elk stole the bait, and kept right on going---2 wolves were in hot pursuit, and the other 2 got caught in the jumble and turned into Wolf dust I beleive.

When the herd came through the woods they drug with them all of the fishing line with the cans attached. This was adding a lot to the background noises, along with the assorted grunts, growls, howls, screams and thuds. About this time I came down from my flip in the air, via a Buffalo butt, right on to the back of said Buffalo. The old Buff had cans tangled all over his horns and fishing line trailing out behind, to say nothing of the salad running off his face. He looked like he was being chivalried after getting married. That fishing line had me wired tight before I knew what had happened. The party started breaking up about this time I think. The Indians left with the Bear in pursuit, the Deer took off looking like running Christmas Trees with all the cans hanging from their racks. Buff and me just sort of took off across the county. Everytime he'd buck, one of the cans would hit him in the rump and off we'd go again. Sometime in the future I'll have to tell you the complete story of that ride, my lawyer advises against it for now. I will say that two and half counties later, 37 fences, two clothes lines, and an old jogger, I managed to dismount. The Highway Patrol was kind enough to take me to a hospital. The last I saw of Old Buff, the "Smokies" were still chasing him with red light and siren.

As the dust settles, the surviving Milk Cows are giving cottage cheese, but the farmers wife is on a diet so that's Ok. The fences are mended and most of the stock has been rounded up. The clothes can be washed again and the flower beds replanted. The old jogger is recovering nicely from his stroke. My hat didn't pull through though. The invasion from outer space reports are being ignored, and the Deer hunters who talk about seeing Deer carrying beer cans are laughed at. My lawyer reports that "Inciting a Riot" will never hold up in court. Next year I think I'll try a tree stand...and that is the truth so help me Jeriamiah Johnson!!!

Bob

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Windriver,
 
Posts: 29 | Location: Derby Kansas | Registered: 30 March 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Pilgrim
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At least you were hunting in a state that allows baiting wild game. Here in Colorado, you wouldn't be able to use the essence of skunk or the carrot salad.

I did have a friend that tried a variation on the fishing line trick once. We worked for an oil company and the office was located out in the middle of the oil field. It was also surrounded by prairie dog town. One day, he got the idea of using some fishing line to make a snare to catch a prairie dog. He placed the snare over a prairie dog hole and watched from around the corner of the office with fishing pole in hand. When the dog stuck his head up for a look see, he jerked on the pole and set the snare good and hard. That pole bent almost in half when he tried to reel in the prairie dog. The dog got tired of the game fairly quickly and bit the snare into, causing my friend to lose his balance and fall back on his butt. We thought the antics quite funny, but one of the secretaries in the office that had happened to see it didn't think so. She sent a letter to the oil company's headquarters complaining about his mistreatment of animals. It took the intervention of our boss to keep my friend from getting fired. I don't think he got the message, though, because he said he would use a steel leader on his fishing line the next time.


Phil Meek
 
Posts: 78 | Location: Denver | Registered: 19 August 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
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I've done that. It does work. The little buggers put up quite a fight. It's tough getting them released. They are really pissed by the time you get them reeled in.
 
Posts: 29 | Location: Derby Kansas | Registered: 30 March 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
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Say Phil have you tried rubbing a Democrat on some felt to cover your scent? Might work. Can't imagine carrot salad being a problem, it's vegan you know.
 
Posts: 29 | Location: Derby Kansas | Registered: 30 March 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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